The Zhaoling Mausoleum

我们现在看到的就是唐太宗李世民与文德皇后长孙氏的陵墓——昭陵。

昭陵是唐代第二位皇帝唐太宗李世民与文德皇后长孙氏的陵墓。公元626年高祖李渊禅位，李世民于是登上皇帝的宝座。他在位23年，开创了我国历史上盛极一时的“贞观之治”。公元636年，文德皇后长孙氏病故。太宗遵其“依山而葬”、“俭薄送终”的遗嘱，选择距长安城约80千米的九嵕山为陵址，定名昭陵。安葬了文德皇后，昭陵营建工程仍然没有停止。公元649年，太宗病故，与文德皇后合葬后封固陵墓，建陵工程至此竣工。

现在大家跟我进去仔细看看吧。

昭陵位于陕西省礼泉县东北20千米处，是关中“唐十八陵”中规模最大的。经过1 000多年的风雨沧桑，昭陵的地面建筑早已荡然无存，现仅存几处废墟，如朱雀门、献殿、祭坛、司马门、皇城。

昭陵陵园周长60千米，总面积为2万公顷，共有陪葬墓167座。太宗李世民的灵寝位于陵园最北端，像皇宫在长安城北部一样，居高临下。陪葬墓中以魏征、李靖、李（徐懋功）的墓与众不同。例如，李的墓冢形如3座山峰，象征阴山、铁山、乌德鞬山，以纪念他在这些地方所立的赫赫战功。目前还依次排列着1对石人，左侧石羊、右侧石虎各3对。墓碑高5.6米，高宗李治亲自撰文书碑。这3座墓规模之大，足以说明墓主人的功勋和他们与唐王朝的特殊关系。陪葬墓中还有一些西北地区兄弟民族将领的墓，他们都在唐朝政权中担任过重要职务，有的还和唐皇室有联姻关系。

唐代盛行在墓前立碑和在墓室内放置墓志石的风气。昭陵大部分墓前有碑，几乎每座墓内都有墓志石。大部分碑石现都保存在昭陵博物馆内。

唐朝是我国封建社会的鼎盛时期，唐太宗又是一个很有作为的皇帝，因此昭陵被誉为“天下名陵”。1961年，国务院公布昭陵为第一批全国重点文物保护单位，并修建了昭陵博物馆。

Now we are visiting the Mausoleum of Li Shimin and Empress Wende.It is called the Zhaoling Mausoleum.

The Zhaoling Mausoleum is a co－burial tomb for Taizong，Li Shimin，the second emperor of the Tang Dynasty and Empress Wende.He came to the throne in 626 AD when it was abdicated by Emperor Gaozu（Li Yuan），his father.He was in power for 23 years.His rule was a famous period known as the prosperous Zhenguan Reign.In 636 AD，Empress Wende died of an illness.Her will read，“After I die，bury me in the mountain and hold a simple funeral for me.”So Emperor Taizong chose the Mountain Jiuzong，80 kilometers from Xi'an，as the tomb site and named it Zhaoling.Its construction started soon afterwards.In 649 AD，Emperor Taizong died of an illness and was buried together with Empress Wende.The tomb was completely sealed and the construction came to an end.

Now follow me，please.We will have a thorough look around it.

The Zhaoling Mausoleum stands on the top of the Mount Jiuzhong，20 kilometers northeast of Liquan County in Shaanxi Province.It is the largest of the“18Imperial Tombs of the Tang Dynasty”on the Central Shaanxi Plain.With the passage of over 1 000 years，almost all its ground structures have disappeared，except for the remain of the Zhuque Gate，the Xian Hall，the Sacrificial Altar，the Sima Gate and the Imperial City.

The Zhaoling Cemetery is 60 kilometers in circumference.With its 167satellite tombs，the cemetery covers an area of 20 000 hectares.Emperor Taizong's Mausoleum stands high up in the northernmost section of the cemetery.Just as the Imperial Palace overlooks all other pa－laces in the City of Chang'an，so this mauso－leum looks over all the other tombs.The tombs of Wei Zheng，Li Jing and Li Ji（Xu Maogong）are worthy of note.Take Li Ji's tomb for example.It is shaped like three peaks. They represent the Yinshan，Tieshan and Wudejian mountains，where he scored one victory after another.A pair of stone figures was placed in front of the tomb.On the left are three pairs of stone sheep，and on the right are three pairs of stone tigers.The tombstone，5.6 meters tall，bears Emperor Gaozong's inscription.These three tombs are extraordinary enough to show the contributions of the tomb occupants and their special relations with the imperial court.Among the tombs are those of the generals of the ethnic minority groups of the northwest region.They all held important positions in the Tang Dynasty.Several of them even had a relationship to the royal family by marriage.

During the Tang Dynasty，it was a regular practice to install memorial tablets before tombs and place epitaphs in coffin chambers.There are memo rial tablets in front of most of the tombs in the Zhaol ing Cemetery，and there is an epitaph in every burial chamber.Most of these artifacts are now preserved in the Zhaoling Museum.

The Tang Dynasty was the zenith of feudal society in China.Emperor Taizong was consi－dered the most capable of all.The Zhaoling Mausoleum was accepted as an important historical monument in 1961.Zhaoling Museum was set up in the same year.